1st-ish Grow, California Snow Auto, Help Needed, Day 19

[Digger3691]

I see you have been letting the media get dry that is excellent work!

I seem to have hit a happy point. As I’m only growing the one plant I’m using cheap bottle spring water, 80c (Australian, probably 50c US) for 1.5 litres and was using the whole bottle each day.

I know over the course of the grow it works out relatively expense, but daily you don’t miss 80c, especially when you factor in the time/effort save by not having to dechlorinate tap water.

Ive now found that if I use approximately 1.2 litres I still get a decent run off in the tray (my pot is elevated so it doesn’t sit in it) but in 24 hours the top of the medea is starting to dry.

 

[Digger3691]

That's perfect.
Ok so you have pistols.
She has flipped to flower for you.
It's time to change her nutrition to the flowering schedule.
What nutrients do you have?

Stay safe
B8ll

Hi Bill,

She’s really starting to take shape in places.
The place that will become the main/central ‘cola’ if that’s the right word, is starting to look good as all the seperate pistils grow together to form one!

 

[Digger3691]

Also the CalMag and PK arrive today.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Also the CalMag and PK arrive today.

oh my word look how happy your girl is now
Thats good that you been using spring water they love tbhe clean water definitely start hitting her with that calmag and mix it in first im sure you know listening to growers talk to always mix micro or cal mag before anything else so it can help mobilize everything else you want to add like pk boost. Never mix the 2 directly it will create gypsum and you cant water that lol
Your plant is getting to be a decent size it looks like she is gonna give u a nice yield now!
Bravo!

 

[Digger3691]

oh my word look how happy your girl is now
Thats good that you been using spring water they love tbhe clean water definitely start hitting her with that calmag and mix it in first im sure you know listening to growers talk to always mix micro or cal mag before anything else so it can help mobilize everything else you want to add like pk boost. Never mix the 2 directly it will create gypsum and you cant water that lol
Your plant is getting to be a decent size it looks like she is gonna give u a nice yield now!
Bravo!

Many thanks CChunk, I’ve read loads but many times conflicting stuff. So I thought I’d actually join a forum to ask questions, after visiting and reading many I decided this seemed one of the very best.
Yourself, Bill and a few others have been very generous with giving answers to questions and advice as needed.

Im still a bit worried about her stumpy stature, even the top leaf only barely reaches 11 inches, and she’s as bushy as can be, with many potential bud sites getting hardly any light. I rotate her and also sometimes put her on an angle to get a little light to them.

The bottom parts get more or less no light and look a bit poorly, but surviving without dying. I feel like she needs de-foliating but I’ve heard it’s not a good idea once they’ve entered the flowering stage.

I feel I should do what you suggested a week or two ago and let her do her own thing, but I’m also worried about the air circulation where it’s so bushy!

 

[Digger3691]

oh my word look how happy your girl is now
Thats good that you been using spring water they love tbhe clean water definitely start hitting her with that calmag and mix it in first im sure you know listening to growers talk to always mix micro or cal mag before anything else so it can help mobilize everything else you want to add like pk boost. Never mix the 2 directly it will create gypsum and you cant water that lol
Your plant is getting to be a decent size it looks like she is gonna give u a nice yield now!
Bravo!

Also just quickly it seems that the CalMag raises Ph levels. Should I factor this in and have the ph lower before adding CalMag and nutes?

Cheers!

 

[Digger3691]

Good morning @Digger3691 your lady looks great.
I noticed in a pic what looks like pistols.
So she might be flowering and time to change her nutrients.
Can you get a clear pic.
I'll show you where.

Stay safe
Bill

oh my word look how happy your girl is now
Thats good that you been using spring water they love tbhe clean water definitely start hitting her with that calmag and mix it in first im sure you know listening to growers talk to always mix micro or cal mag before anything else so it can help mobilize everything else you want to add like pk boost. Never mix the 2 directly it will create gypsum and you cant water that lol
Your plant is getting to be a decent size it looks like she is gonna give u a nice yield now!
Bravo!

Hi guys, a question about lighting.
When I first bought the set up it was as a set. The tent is great, the extraction fan and filter okay, but the lights pretty poor.

Marketed at 600W for dummies like me I think the true amount was 130W and of a blur pole design..

So after my very first, very quickly aborted grow, I updated the lights to VIPARSPECTRA P1500, a well considered but still budget light.
Now my single gal is in flowering mode I just wondered if there would be an advantage to using both lights.
The VIPARSPECTRA is a quantum board (I think that’s what it’s called) and is dimmable.

The blurple one comes with a button for veg and one for bloom. If there was an advantage would I use both buttons or just the bloom?

Or if I used two for one plant would I just be wasting electricity?
Cheers guys.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

It is an honor to be the first recipient to make an educated answer on this lights. First though, it is my pleasure to bring help as it is the others who are quick to reply with good answers. It is a community and thats what were here for.
PH lol so if Im gonna chase the PH.. I was always taught to mix everything you want to fertilize or boost with first then adjust because it will swing slightly depending on the additives.
Some have the stabilizer like ph perfect from AN.. If you do this enough you will get pretty good at guessing your relative PH without even checking by the bubbles after a stir. Temperature will also play a slight roll in PH so keep that stable with the roots temp and the plant will be happy perhaps the solution going in is possibly stunting the growth? I learned to let the water sit especially in winter it has the ions bouncing around excited from heaving through pipes in many angles and distances it needs to settle. Straight from the tap is better than no water if your in a pinch and have to go you know what I mean.
But the summer water will always be higher from the stuff they nuke the water system with to keep pathogens down. So on a well or spring it is different.. You are spring you should check the water hardness to see if maybe you need to cut the dose i think no more than 200 ppm with calmag is sufficient.
I use gh ph down and 1ml per gallon gets it down a point exactly which is nice so I try to regularly reduce the ph in watering and barely worry about it when mixng bc usually the nutrients stabilize the ph where it should be by reducing it from its acidity. Is your calcium supplement derived from calcium carbonate? I used the general organics calmag and think that is in there but the magnesium nitrate is what make the plants go tick.. Nitrate based good will almost always accelerate growth bc its the final phase on the N cycle ready to be eaten by microbes and converted to food to the plant.
Theres a sweet spot to have 80 percent nitrate nitrogen and 20 percent ammonical nitrogen food to stabilize ph.
Cannabis plants are nitrophiles meaning they love Nitrogen...so I switched to botanicare calmag bc it has iron and is strictly calcium nitrate as its N source but I also use bone meal and other things in the media. They will appreciate the generous helpings of diverse food sources..in moderation according to instructions per manufacturer.
You have an auto so I wouldn't hesitate to keep going lightly with some veg nutes to get her to stretch more... Less Blue light too so possibly turn dosn the Blurple or you need to clean up her skirt as they say.
I know you dont want to do it but will take away your worry about not enough light in her lowers.
Its a sin to do this too for a lot of auto growers starting a flower phase but you could top her she is still young enough. That will shoot all them little suckers up get to tying them as the reach and she will turn into a bunch of nice tops.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

The main reason I say to let waternsit though is to let it get as close to room temperature as possible to keep the shock level low and really keep that metabolism in gear

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Liking the new light set up maybe slider a little more under the stronger light in a few day but turn her a third of a turn clockwise or cc if u want dont matter but keep following the same turn so you know what 1/3rd needs the better light. Get her used to the better light over the next week and try to get her settled under it maybe 2/3rds and leave 1/3rd under your blurple and just keep turning her every 3 days 1 third. The red is gonna help that reach you want from her so thats your best bet. Yes it is a waste of electric but also will make her grow faster and yield more if you keep it in there to provide the mixed spectrum. I try to always get started under some blue but find it really makes a lot of tightness.
They will also be forced to grow if you can raise the lights a tad might not have to water as frequent and she may do that thing you want her to do.
Theres also something called GA3 or gibberellic acid... Very strong natural hormone from pea plants that will encourage very long stretching... I sprayed a light 50ppm solution on a small lower once every day for a week the plant grew into a huge beast and the branch died like some of the other experiments but that plant is a giant now so there's that.
It's found that you can use GA3 to hermie them but I had my auto varieties not be too happy with that they still did it but quickly died so be careful with hormones. Or anything for autoflowers they are sensitive.
My best piece of advice is to top her I know she is a beauty and is looking good now but it's not too late especially if you give her some more N than you think she needs lol not too much check ppm if u can she would be happy with light veg nutes though if you don't have the checker. Don't feel ashamed if you do not I hardly use mine and old timers never used to have the dang things either so have faith in yourself grasshopper.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

that and leave the lights running 24/7

 

[ChocolatChunk]

You will be 1 of the first to get some of the Hawaiian snow hybrids from me when that day comes.
I ordered loads of seeds last cpl yrs and got a a cpl Greenhouse Hawaiian snow.. Tried to get 1 to go no luck so hopefully the next she is willing and able.
Gonna dig it out soon
Should be great to breed another white strain with it.
You! Thank you for giving me good ideas!!!

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Have some white goblin autos coming that should be interesting to reverse the Hawaiian snow and get more fem beans of her and then put that pollen on the goblins and have Hawaiian Goblin super autos. And if youre wondering I plan on making the real chocolate chunk with these chocolate strains and this chunky skunk fingers crossed.
Good luck on the California snow
She wants to be a big girl yes
To top or not to top lol if you hermie it you wont ever have to buy this type of seed again.
Can put a night light in the tent simple as that no chemicals.. Grow lights go off.. Night light stresses a few bananas and boom when she finishes she is a proud mother of
Herself.

 

[Digger3691]

Firstly I want to thanks you so much for the time and effort and imparting so much knowledge and information.

Yes, as you mentioned, it’s part of being in a community but it still takes time to do, and I’m very thankful.



Things are really happening since my last post. I’ve kept the VIPARSPECTRA P1500 on and have been using the other light with just the bloom on, so only to get reddish spectrum. My thinking being she’ll receive the rest of the spectrum from the P1500. And yes I have been rotating her to get a uniform coverage.

And, well, my short, stumpy girl has really started to stretch, this morning was 16.5”, current growth rate is approx half an inch a day.



I haven’t topped her as she’s around day 45, but she is still very dense around the lower half and I have been defoliating, mostly damaged, limp or weird twisting backward leaves. I then give a couple of days for recovery. Fan leaves that block lots of light I try to tuck, but obviously they jump back, as does new growth!



Where’s she’s stretching around the central top, will all those early bud sites on the maim stem all join into one big bud?



Yesterday was the first time I’ve noticed trichomes on the little “sugar” leaves around the buds. Is the timing right? Because looking at the bud sites it seems they have a way too go.



I have just a generic 40x loupe to look at the trichomes but it’s not going to be powerful enough to judge them. What is a cheap alternative to get “closer”.



My first grow had to be aborted at around 20 days due to my noob mistakes so this is all new territory to me, so answers to my above questions and all advice is most welcome.



Cheers!!

 

[Digger3691]

Might help if I actually add photos instead of just thinking about it!!

 

[Digger3691]

Have some white goblin autos coming that should be interesting to reverse the Hawaiian snow and get more fem beans of her and then put that pollen on the goblins and have Hawaiian Goblin super autos. And if youre wondering I plan on making the real chocolate chunk with these chocolate strains and this chunky skunk fingers crossed.
Good luck on the California snow
She wants to be a big girl yes
To top or not to top lol if you hermie it you wont ever have to buy this type of seed again.
Can put a night light in the tent simple as that no chemicals.. Grow lights go off.. Night light stresses a few bananas and boom when she finishes she is a proud mother of
Herself.

interesting the hermie thing, might give the topping it a go next time when i go for 2 or maybe 3.

For this one though I just want to produce some bud to both enjoy and help with the pain in my back.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Firstly I want to thanks you so much for the time and effort and imparting so much knowledge and information.

Yes, as you mentioned, it’s part of being in a community but it still takes time to do, and I’m very thankful.



Things are really happening since my last post. I’ve kept the VIPARSPECTRA P1500 on and have been using the other light with just the bloom on, so only to get reddish spectrum. My thinking being she’ll receive the rest of the spectrum from the P1500. And yes I have been rotating her to get a uniform coverage.

And, well, my short, stumpy girl has really started to stretch, this morning was 16.5”, current growth rate is approx half an inch a day.



I haven’t topped her as she’s around day 45, but she is still very dense around the lower half and I have been defoliating, mostly damaged, limp or weird twisting backward leaves. I then give a couple of days for recovery. Fan leaves that block lots of light I try to tuck, but obviously they jump back, as does new growth!



Where’s she’s stretching around the central top, will all those early bud sites on the maim stem all join into one big bud?



Yesterday was the first time I’ve noticed trichomes on the little “sugar” leaves around the buds. Is the timing right? Because looking at the bud sites it seems they have a way too go.



I have just a generic 40x loupe to look at the trichomes but it’s not going to be powerful enough to judge them. What is a cheap alternative to get “closer”.



My first grow had to be aborted at around 20 days due to my noob mistakes so this is all new territory to me, so answers to my above questions and all advice is most welcome.



Cheers!!

Wowzer! that sure is too late to top! Also fantastic work! It's fun to watch you grow.
Its liking the new light without a doubt.
I had some good spring water from PA I brought home from camping..
It was delicious and the plants absolutely loved it. Super cold in the hottest of summer and tasted like it was from the Gods
I dont mean to sound religious LOL
But the plants grew very well indeed long story short about spring water.
I knew a guy that only grew with Fiji bottled water... Talk about a bill. It does have the highest content of fecal matter for all bottled waters. So it definitely works good for gardening but it is so pricey. I find it is the best water to sprout my seeds thus far except a couple landraces from India have had bad luck with a few methods on unfortunately.
I find the earlier the better to be topping auto you kind of want them to be of decent size but not into flower this far I have made some mistakes and lost some good autos to my elf bending too hard they are especially fragile to that and disrupts the whole flowering system to the plant like a transplant if it has buds like yours does now and its in a small container you better keep watering it and nurturing it in the same small container lol I tried transplanting autos this far they give up almost completely and produce rather sad yield so they have a bad rep since ppl wanna do too much to them and we didn't know they require less food then our beloved photo's
Handle differently under conditions photos can tolerate stress too like transplant and back to the food.. That rant over we all know how autos are now lol

Your 40x if its the telescoping type that you adjust to focus. Those are good but the ol' faithful jewelers loupe is what I like best when you can sit back your eye judt a few inches like your looking into a scope ona rifle. Then pull the loupe away from the piece or object you are looking at. I enjoy using the one I just picked up for 10 bucks it id only 15x but you can see the heads largely when you use it just right.
You want to get closer you need a microscope. They are pretty affordable for ones you can connect wirelessly to your device's. Or wired to the computer.
Some pretty cool ones out there with the screen already on a stand with them and not too heavy or expensive like the real lab scopes.
I sadly just lost one of my purple diesel to being too rough so dont worry we are all plant killers my friend purple diesel was a year old and I just threw her into 12 and 12.. Broke that bitch sad day yes but her sister is quite the specimen now so it's ok just a plant.
To the naked eye you miss the 3 white fly aphids hiding on this little sprout. Even got through the tube cap with it on loose.
Another good thing to have a loop handy is being an avid pest controller
I let a jumping spider go months ago in the veg she is still doing her thang.
Great Job so far Digger that is gonna be one happy plant.
To the question about the buds growing together you never know but it is how it appears she wants to be so a fat thicket of bud a football I like to say it will be mighty it looks it! Try to make it a rugby!
Kudos!

 

[ChocolatChunk]

also am into trimming my flowers with a good. Few dollar set of reading glasses as dorky as it sounds I get them and my light and go to work lol you will be surprised at the hairs and microfibers you will find with those reading glasses. Get a pair of reading glasses you can read perfectly with though so you can trim where you would hold a book and be surprised you will.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Sorry its a 30.. But love this guy has a nice case and a key to open the battery compartment

 

[Digger3691]

Hey CChunk,

My gal is still on the stretch, approx 18.5” but that’s mainly the central stalk, the branches are about 6” shorter at least and she’s still very dense around the bottom.

I was doing a light defoliate yesterday and took off a small, limp branch from the bottom. It had a small bud site on it. Some of the pistils have turned amber but all the trichomes are clear. If dried would it have any effect??